Uruguay Decrees State of National Emergency for Gender-based Violence

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez has decreed a state of national emergency on the basis of feminicide statistics and launched a series of public policies and measures to combat this type of crime in the country.

Juan Andrés Roballo, the undersecretary of the presidency, said the measures are within the framework of the Comprehensive Gender Law and include expanding the electronic anklets program, online courses to prevent sexual abuse and intervention programs in prisons for men who have committed some gender-based violence, among others.

The announcement comes after three women were killed on Christmas Eve this year. According to the Uruguayan Women’s Coordination, in 2019 alone, 35 women were murdered by their partners or ex-partners. Although the number is much lower than in Brazil, in relative numbers Uruguay is among the countries that kill women the most.

In 2018, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Brazil registered 1206 feminicides, while Uruguay registered 30. These figures mean that Brazil has a rate of 1.1 feminicide per 100,000 inhabitants. In Uruguay, this rate is 1.7.

The Latin American countries with the highest rates of feminicide are El Salvador (6.8), Honduras (5.1), Bolivia (2.3), Guatemala (2.0), Dominican Republic (1.9) and Uruguay (1.7).

In the ranking, Brazil appears worse placed than countries like Costa Rica and Panama, with a rate of 1.0 feminicides per 100,000 inhabitants, and Peru and Venezuela with 0.8.

The undersecretary of the Uruguayan presidency stressed the need for a profound cultural transformation, “where the state, social organizations, and all members of the community, especially men, have the obligation to review daily behavior.

Roballo said that “the struggle for a life free of gender-based violence implies a change in cultural matrices that support authoritarian ties and domination over girls, boys, adolescents and women of all ages.

The government has proposed holding a high-level meeting with the Supreme Court of Justice and the Attorney General, with the aim of achieving greater efficiency in access to justice for the protection of women and girls.

According to the Uruguayan government, 200 new electronic anklets will be purchased, increasing the stock to 1200 anklets nationwide.

In addition, the government said it will widely publicize awareness campaigns and hold virtual courses for “the promotion of non-violent masculinities,” aimed at formal and non-formal educators, to encourage changes in sociocultural patterns and contribute to the prevention of gender-based violence.

There will also be an intervention program in prisons for men who engage in gender-based violence and another program to prevent gender-based violence for women deprived of their liberty.

Source: Agência Brasil